Kerala is governed by the Communist
Party of India (Marxist). While Kerala is one of a diminishing number of States
without armed insurgency, the State police have an appalling record on human
rights violations including custodial deaths.

On 26 July
2007, the State government announced it would re-investigate four 2006
custodial deaths cases after the report of the Justice Rajendra Babu Commission,
which examined 15 custodial deaths, was brought before the State Assembly.

The Kerala High Court has
jurisdiction over Kerala and the
Union Territory of Lakshadweep. It continued to be hampered by delay. There
were vacancies of 12 judges against the sanctioned strength of 38 in the Kerala
High Court as on 1st January 2008. In the district and subordinate
courts, there were vacancies of 18 judges as on 30th September 2007.
The failure to appoint adequate judges further contributed to the failure of
the High Court and the lower courts to dispose of all the cases. As of 30th September 2007, there were 1,15,750 cases pending in Kerala High Court and
9,37,789 cases pending in the district and subordinate courts of Kerala.

Political party activists continued to
use violence to attain political ends. On 12 December 2007, activists belonging
to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) attacked journalists at the
Malappuram Press Club covering the party conference in Malappuram district.

On 14 October 2007 at 2.30 am, Pastor
TC Joseph (57) and his wife Ammini (50) were attacked by alleged Hindu
fundamentalists at their residence at Mananthavady under Thiruvalli police
station in Wayanad district. The couple had to be admitted in hospital with
severe injuries. The pastor was associated with New India Bible Church and has
been working among tribal people for the last 15 years.

Tribals were subjected to violations
by the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) activists. The State
government failed to regularise ‘pattayams’ (land deeds) issued to 500 tribal
families by the then Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar in 1999 in lieu of 10,000
acres that was alienated from them in Attappady. Cadres of the ruling CPI(M)
cadres forcibly took over lands earmarked for distribution to Adivasis who were
displaced following the killings of the Adivasi protestors at Muthanga in 2003.
On 26 November 2007, the CPI-M cadres forced 200 Adivasi families to flee in
Munnar, destroyed their huts and put up CPI(M) party flags to symbolise their
victory.

On 26 July
2007, the State government announced it would re-investigate four 2006
custodial deaths cases after the report of Justice Rajendra Babu
Commission was placed in the State Assembly. Justice Babu inquired into 15
cases of custodial deaths reported since the Left Democratic Front government
had come to power.

The NHRC stated that it recorded three
cases of deaths in police custody in Kerala during 1 April 2006 – 31 March
2007.

The reports of custodial death
continue to rise:

On 11 July 2007, one Manoj of
Kadmankuzhy near Theodickal died in the custody of Perumpetty Police Station in
Malappally taluk in Pathanamthitta district due to alleged torture. The
deceased was illegally picked up by the police on the morning of 11 July 2007
after he was found in suspicious circumstances at a waiting shed near Kottanad.
According to the police, Manoj complained of stomach ache and was taken to the
Kottanad Primary Health Centre. He was referred to District Hospital in
Kozhencherry when he complained of chest pain. He died at the District Hospital
at 10.40 a.m. on 11 July 2007.

In September 2007, the Kerala High
Court ordered further investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
into the custodial death of Udayakumar at the Fort Police station,
Thiruvananthapuram.

According to the Kerala Police, there
were 856 officers in the police department with criminal cases against them as
of 10 February 2007. The majority of these officers were reportedly facing
departmental-level inquiries.

The National Crime Records Bureau of
the government of India reported 75 cases of crime against tribals during 2006.
These included 23 cases of rape and 2 cases under the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989.

In Kadapa
district of Kerala, 21 villages have been declared as prone for atrocities
against SCs/STs. For example, 128 cases were registered under Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989 in Kadapa district of Kerala alone from
January to 27 September 2007. Of these, 44 were pending disposal, charge sheets
were filed in six cases, three were found to be false and two cases were
pending in court. In the remaining 33 cases, 20 cases were disposed off
and 13 were pending for want of land records and caste certificates.

Many tribals groups struggle to
survive because of a denial of medical facilities. On 10 August 2007, the
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued notice to the Kerala Government
on allegations that Korga tribals in Kasaragod district were facing a serious
threat to their survival due to malnourishment, poverty and disease.

The aboriginal tribes of Attappady
were on verge of extinction due to major health problems like infertility,
sickle cell anaemia, tuberculosis and thrombo angiitis obliterans. According to
a survey conducted by the Health Department in January-February 2007, 30 to 40
per cent of tribal couples of reproductive age were facing infertility
problems.

The State government failed to act on
alienation of the lands of tribal peoples or to compensate those who have been
forcibly displaced. About 500 tribal families were given ‘pattayams’ (land
deeds) by the then Chief Minister E.K. Nayanar in 1999 in lieu of 10,000 acres
that was alienated from them in Attappady. The state government of Kerala had
failed to allot any land to landless tribals of Attappaddy by December 2007.

In November 2007, Communist Party of
India (Marxists) cadres forcibly took over lands earmarked for distribution to
Adivasis, indigenous peoples in Munnar. In 2003, following killings of the
Adivasi protestors at Muthanga, the State government allotted an acre of land
each in Chinnakanal to more than 700 tribal families. However after four years,
only 540 families have received land. Some 200 tribal families have built
makeshift huts on government land in Munnar in protest. But on 26 November
2007, they were attacked by CPI-M cadres. Over 2,000 CPI-M cadres captured a
1,500-acre stretch of government land in Munnar’s Chinnakkanal area and forced
the 200 Adivasi families to flee. The CPI-M cadres destroyed the huts of the Adivasis
and put up party flags to symbolize their victory. They fenced off the area and
began constructing their own huts there.

On 20 February 2007, K.P. Rajendran,
Minister for Revenue of Kerala Government stated that there were 22,000 tribal
families in the State without land.

The NCRB recorded 264 cases of crimes
against the Dalits during 2006. These included 3 cases of killing, 62 cases of
rape and 70 cases under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocity) Act of 1989.

Dalit converts to Christianity were targeted. On
19 October 2007, a Dalit Christian woman identified as Chellarian Rita
(36), the wife of Jose Madakkudiyan of Ezhomkavumchal, was killed
after being raped. Christian groups have alleged that it was a case of
persecution of Dalit Christians.

The NCRB recrded 7,554 cases of violence
against women in 2006. Of these, 601 were rapes, 25 dowry deaths,
202 kidnappings and abduction, and 189 cases under the Immoral Trafficking
(Prevention) Act of 1956.

The NCRB also recorded 553 cases of
violence against children during 2006. These included 50 cases of killing, 219
cases of rape, 73 cases of kidnapping and abduction and 6 cases under Child
Marriage Restraint Act of 1978, among others.

On 7 October 2007, a mob of about 100
persons attacked a 40-year-old pregnant Tamil woman and her two children on the
alleged charge of theft from a textile showroom at Edappal in the district. She
was forcefully disrobed, dragged down the asphalted road and beaten, punched
and kicked all over her body for about 45 minutes.

The NHRC recorded 37 cases of deaths
in judicial custody were registered in Kerala during 1 April 2006 – 31 March
2007.

Several under-trial prisoners were
detained in jail for periods exceeding the sentence they would have faced had
they been convicted of the charges under which they had been detained. On 4
September 2007, the state government of Kerala informed the Kerala High Court
that it had paid compensation to 74 under-trial prisoners who had been detained
in jails for the maximum period of imprisonment provided for the offences with
which they were charged. These under-trial prisoners were released on the order
of the High Court.

On 22 January 2007, one Shaji (aged
above 35 years), son of Keshavan, a resident of Koyikal Nikarthil house in
Cherthala, Alapuzha district of Kerala died due to alleged torture at Viyoor
Central Jail in Thrissur district.

He was initially detained at Kombara
Sub Jail in Ernakulam district but on 20 January 2007, he was transferred from
Kombara Sub Jail to Viyoor Central Jail along with 17 other prisoners citing
lack of space in Kombara jail. On arrival at the Viyoor Central Prison, the
detainees were allegedly assaulted by Yohannan, an officer in the prison. Shaji
was assaulted when he said he would complain to the court about the assault. On
22 January 2007, when Shaji was produced before the Additional Chief Judicial
Magistrate Court, Ernakulam, he lodged a formal complaint with the magistrate
court and the court ordered that he be medically examined. But the doctor on
duty at the District Hospital in Ernakulam did not examine Shaji properly. After
Shaji was brought back to Viyoor jail, he was allegedly tortured again. He had
to be taken to the Medical College Hospital at night in a prison ambulance and
the victim died in the hospital at around 10:00 pm.